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Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Selection of Antiretroviral Medications Provided Under U.S. Emergency Plan Is Limited

GAO-05-133 Published: Jan 11, 2005. Publicly Released: Jan 26, 2005.
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Highlights

In developing countries, only about 7 percent of people with HIV/AIDS receive treatment. In 2003, the Congress authorized the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a 5-year, $15 billion initiative under the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. The Emergency Plan focuses on 15 developing countries, with a goal of supporting treatment for 2 million people. Treatment regimens use multiple antiretroviral medications (ARV), which can be original or generic. Fixed-dose combinations (FDC) combine two or three ARVs into one pill. Questions have been raised about whether the plan is providing ARVs preferred by the focus countries at reasonable prices. GAO compared the selection of ARVs provided under the plan with that provided under other major treatment initiatives, compared the prices of those selections, and determined what the Coordinator's Office is doing to expand the plan's selection of quality-assured lower-priced ARVs.

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AIDSComparative analysisCost analysisDeveloping countriesDrugsForeign aid programsHealth care programsInfectious diseasesInternational organizationsPrices and pricingQuality assuranceSexually transmitted diseasesEpidemics